Week 2
Monday, March 12, 2001 - Kangaroo Island to Adelaide to Melbourne to Cairns
This morning was another cool morning. Cheryl and I were now sniffling with a cold - just great, we didn't need this before scuba diving!
Cheryl was worse than I was. I headed out to find a drugstore to try get some Otrivin and such. It was quite comical trying to find what I was looking for, because none of the brands we use were in this store - thank God for a patient Pharmacist that understood my confusion. She helped me locate similar products, then I was on my way back to the hotel before our bus was to arrive.
Once back in Adelaide, we grabbed a taxi and headed off into the city to try get Cheryl's friend Luc a Harley Davidson t-shirt. We went into the shop, still carrying our baggage, got what we were looking for, then we had to try find a taxi back to the airport to get the rest of our luggage and board our next plane. It took a little time before we got a cab, but after trying a couple of different spots, we finally got the lucky one!
Back at the airport, we had to shift all the stuff in our bags once again before checking our bags in - mine were dead on - I guess I got pretty good! LOL!
We went for lunch, where once again I got to experience Caramel Mud cake - a delight that I had from Susan's wedding - absolutely yummy!
When we were waiting to board the plane, we got delayed by this large, older guy that said he could not walk to the plane - they had to take him out via a lift. We ended up just making our connecting flight in Melbourne to Cairns. It was nice to be back on 747's again - I find safety in numbers!!!
We grabbed a cab from the airport to our hotel since we had to head off to the 24 hour clinic to have dive medicals performed before we could scuba dive in the morning.
Since we were both stuffed up, we were a little nervous about the medicals - we tried to un-stuff ourselves as much as we could.
Still a little ticked off that a doctor in Canada that specializes in Hyperbaric Medicine isn't valid enough over a "clinic doctor" in Australia, we waited to be seen. We watched the doctors to see which looked like the easiest to deal with - well we got the worst! LOL! He was a real stuffed shirt - I just saw our hopes going down the drain - all this way and no scuba certification.
Since Cheryl was more stuffed up than I was - I held my breath when she got called in. When I saw her come out to do a second breath test I could have died - what torture. When she walked back out of the office she looked rather upset, then she signaled it was okay - I breathed a sigh of relief.
Next I was up, this guy was so arrogant it made me sick. Thankfully he signed off on my certificate - we paid for the exam and headed off to sleep before our early rise tomorrow!
Tuesday, March 13, 2001 - The Great Barrier Reef - Cairns
We went to have some breakfast first thing - I didn't have much of an appetite because I was a bundle of nerves. I was afraid of the thought of sharks - I knew everyone said that's the least of your worries, but I was still worried.
A bus came to collect us and people from other hotels, then dropped us off at the wharf, where we boarded the boat. We waited as all the other people checked in, wondering who would be our Dive Master.
After getting the boat safety rules, we found out Jennifer would be the Dive Master testing us. She was very nice - she took us into the inside cabin to go over everything we'd be doing today - a "what to expect" session, which was great to know!
We had to wait for all the people to head off into the water before we got in. Jennifer watched us as we put together all our gear and then did our safety check. Next up was the big stride into the big ocean!
I stepped in and gave my okay signal to the Captain. Once we were all in, Jennifer told us a few things, then we were on our way down. I was so happy that I was able to clear my ears - that was another worry! We hit the bottom at (12 meters) 40 feet down, after the okay signals, we headed off to explore the beautiful world under the sea!
*** The underwater photos are not mine - they were obtained from various sites on the web!***
Because it was sunny out, it was so bright and beautiful - the coral was beautiful shades of pinks and purples. We swam along behind Jennifer as she showed us around! She pointed to some of the beautiful fish, then picked up a sea cucumber and had us feel it. At one point she reached out her hand to glide it over something. I didn't even realize it was a giant clam until it slammed shut - good thing she knew what she was looking at - this was a good lesson not to swim too close to anything!
Sea cucumber
Giant Clam
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We continued on our way and saw many beautiful fish along the way - including the parrotfish, anemonefish and the Regal Angelfish. I couldn't believe how beautiful and bright it was down here. We saw many different types of coral as we explored. I felt as if I was inside a beautiful tropical fish tank - I was the scuba figurine!!! |
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Once back up on the boat, we dried off and waited for lunch. As we stood there, someone spotted a turtle off the side of the boat - we were so mad that we weren't in the water with it, I am sure it would have been an amazing sight to see - oh well, next time.
The weather started to get grey when we moved on to our next dive site. The water got rough and it began to rain, not that it would matter since we'd be down under the water, but it meant visibility wouldn't be so great.
This time our descent would be along the rope to the anchor - which was quite slimy. This was an extremely hard descent for me - my ankles kept floating up making it extremely hard to stay upright. I just kept looking through the cloudy water to the bottom, praying we'd reach it soon. I was not a happy camper!
Once on the bottom, Jennifer led us off to a clear patch so that we could kneel and do some skills. As we were about to settle down at the bottom, Jennifer turned around and within a second her eyes were bulging out, she then lunged towards me, reaching behind me - I didn't know what was happening - at first I thought there was a shark or something coming for me, but there was no way was I turning to look! Then I thought I must have tangled something on my equipment.
Next, she grabbed her spare regulator and was passing it to me. Because "sharing air" was a skill we had to do, I thought she was testing me. I was confused since this was something I was supposed to do with my buddy (Cheryl). Before taking out my regulator, I signaled to her that I wanted to take another breath, then I switched to hers. I was so proud that I did it right - then I grabbed hold of her jacket like we're supposed to do. I was still thinking this was a test until I saw her signal to Cheryl to head up to the surface. Then I realized something was definitely wrong.
When we broke the surface, I could hear the bubbling as the air was escaping my tank. The water was so choppy as we swam back to the boat that was over 100 feet away. Once we reached the boat I was ready to get out, but that wasn't the case. I had to take off my equipment in the water. They changed the seal on my tank, refilled the air and then we were set to go back down. I had to put my equipment back on in the water, which was another skill - I had to jump on top of my jacket and tank, then slide down to slip the jacket on.
Now the "reality" of what had happened was setting in - I was 40 feet down and I could have run out of air without even knowing it until I sucked in that last breath - in the class our teacher had turned off our tanks to see what it felt like, but to think that I could have really had that happen just freaked me out.
Very shaken at this point, we had to swim back over 100 feet through the choppy water and do a free descent to the bottom. Once we got back down, Jennifer signaled to me to do the skill of removing and replacing my mask. I was freaked out and exhausted - I was sucking on my air like there was no tomorrow, feeling like I couldn't get enough and I kept looking up to the surface thinking "please let me go up, I just want to go up!"
Jennifer saw my panic and signaled to relax, breathe deep breathes instead of short quick ones. I kept trying to calm myself down - it "is" really mind over matter! Finally my breathing calmed down a little and I was feeling a bit calmer.
When I removed my mask for the test I got a little winded again because of the salt water, it's quite shocking at first. After a few more skills it was time to go explore again. Since it was so cloudy, the visibility wasn't great.
I kept checking my air, and since Jennifer didn't seem to be heading us back to the boat, I was getting panicked again as I watched my air going down. Amazingly we had come full circle and we were near the boat. I calmed down a bit once we were hanging off the safety stop bar. I was extremely happy when we got out of the water! This really wasn't a good dive all around - there's no need to practice these skills, I just use them for real!!! LOL!
I was the talk of the boat - no one had ever heard of an O-ring busting in the water. It has happened on the surface, but very rarely. Just my luck, I have to be special!
Dive #
Site Name
Bottom Time
Water Temp.
Visibility
1
Thetford Reef, Great Barrier Reef - Cairns, Australia
26 min.
28 C
30+m
2
Thetford Horseshoe Reef, Great Barrier Reef - Cairns, Australia
32 min.
28 C
15m
I was so relieved once we were back at the hotel, I think I could have kissed the ground.
The more and more I thought about our second dive, I got more nervous about going down again tomorrow!
At supper I really started having trouble breathing. It didn't help that I had a cold, but I think nerves had a lot to do with it. I couldn't wait to get back to the air-conditioned room.
I had to get up a few times in the night to stand in front of the air-conditioner breathing in the cold air. Not good - I really felt like I was suffocating.
Wednesday, March 14, 2001
I tried my best to believe that today would be a better day of diving - it was and it wasn't!
The boat ride out was just horrific - the water was so tumultuous that we were being rocked around like mad. I really tried my best to keep gazing out at the horizon, so that I could settle my stomach. There were people vomiting and some took motion sickness pills, like Cheryl!
I was really feeling queasy, more fun!
Jennifer told us that we would feel much better once we were in the water, which for the most part was true, but the queasiness stuck around a bit.
I was still the talk of the boat - some of the people from yesterday were also aboard today's boat!
Today we had another girl with us finishing up her certification, that was cool - it was nice to be with another person at our own level! As we descended to dangle off the safety stop bar, I realized that I lost yet another hair tie - I guess this was my mark on the reefs, hopefully they don't kill any animals!
We did a few skills before we were introduced to my favorite fish in the world - Wally! I couldn't believe the size of this guy as he swam near me - me who used to be terrified of goldfish!
Wally measures about 3-3 1/2 feet long (maybe longer - it's hard to judge under there!) We didn't know what to make of him until Jennifer took out her regulator and planted a huge kiss on his big blue lips!
(They say if something is too pretty or too ugly, stay away - he was rather odd looking with his green and blue coloring!)
Wally swam up to me, I think he knew I was afraid because he turned off to the side as he got closer - I stared into his eye as it rotated around checking me out. I tried reaching for him, but he had swam too far out. I guess at that point he realized I was a bit more comfortable because he came back for a rub.
He also got in my way as I tried to do my CESA test ( going to the surface in one breath, with one arm stretched above your head.) Well, Wally had other plans for me, he kept swimming into my hand making me chuckle and slowing down my ascent! Needless to say I didn't make it in one breath!
I am not sure if they name every Napolean Maori Wrasse, Wally - but he seems to be a star - if you look around the web like I did, you can find info on him, like this newspaper clipping:
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Meet Wally, the $1m fish. |
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Wally definitely brightened my spirits, he even made up a lot for the disastrous dive yesterday! He stayed with us for a bit longer, but then he headed off to play with other divers! We had more business to take care of anyway! After our testing, we headed off to explore - we got to see more coral and fish including the Yellow Tail Fusilier, Clownfish and Bird Wrasse. |
I told the videographer that we were interested in buying the video he was making - we wanted to keep the footage that included Wally playing with the scuba divers - we didn't make it on that footage because we were the last people in the water, but he told me that he'd follow us on the next dive to get some footage of us scuba diving.
We moved on to our next dive site - I have to say I couldn't wait to get back into the water to calm this queasiness down!
We got our skills over with, then it was time for more exploring - it was amazing, we passed through walls of coral, swam over huge masses of coral, we really got up close and personal with it, I came close to hitting it once - that would have really hurt!
The videographer followed us for a bit, having us wave at the camera - I love that he caught us swimming through walls of coral - it's a great souvenir!
As we explored I spotted a live conch under the edge of a rock, it was huge! I think seeing all these creatures in their natural environment is absolutely, without a doubt, the best thing in this world - there's no substituting it!
When our dive came to an end, Jennifer shook our hands at the bottom of the ocean. When we got out of the water most of the crew and fellow scuba divers congratulated us on our certification - we were so thrilled that we made it! What a happy moment - I was so proud! We came A LONG WAY BABY!!! I don't think I felt any queasiness on the way back to shore - I was too elated!
Back at the hotel, we rested up a bit, then went to dinner. Since the restaurant was right near the lobby, I tried keeping watch for the videographer, he was supposed to deliver our video. He must have snuck by us, because when we finished our dinner, we went to the front desk and they told us that the video was delivered to our room, so it was waiting for us when we got back.
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Dive # |
Site Name |
Bottom Time |
Water Temp. |
Visibility |
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3 |
Hastings Reef, Great Barrier Reef - Cairns, Australia |
29 min. |
28 C |
10-15m |
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4 |
Michaelmas Reef, Great Barrier Reef - Cairns, Australia |
28 min. |
28 C |
10m |
Had we been feeling better and had I not been so freaked out by dive #2, we had this "free day" that we could have done more diving, but instead it was our "shopping day!"
We caught the bus into town. We found a photo developer that could develop our films within an hour, which was great. Because I had five films it would take a bit longer, but that was fine by me - it would be much easier to get home with some photos already done, ready to be shown - also less x-ray machines for the undeveloped films to go through!
As the day progressed it got very hot, we couldn't wait to get into the air-conditioned mall. We first headed off to find the Harley Davidson dealer here, to pick up another shirt for Cheryl's friend Luc.
Within a few hours, our souvenir shopping was done and we headed back to the hotel to drop the stuff off before heading back to town for dinner.
We headed to a tattoo parlor to look through their books. This time we were really close to getting a tattoo - I was going to get Tweety bird with a Tilly hat with the saying, "No Worries!" (This seems to be a bigger phrase used in Oz then G'day! - It's so cute!)
They didn't have any Tweety Bird's, so we wandered through a few shops looking for a picture, but since I didn't find anything I liked, I decided it's not meant to be for now!
One of the shops that carried Didgerido's had a nice collection. The aboriginal running the shop was going to give us lessons to play it, but we passed! That would have been hysterical I'm sure!
Continuing on our way, we decided to head to the Casino to have dinner and play some games. It was now pouring outside, and we had nothing for cover. We tried waiting a bit, but then ended up running in the rain.
We looked like two wet mops when we got there. Since the casino was joined with a hotel, we snuck upstairs to the conference rooms area - luckily the bathroom had hand dryers to dry us off. We were in there for over half an hour drying our hair and clothes. I am glad no one came in - they probably would have called security!
Once dry, we headed to the casino to play a bit. I started off by winning a little over $100 Australian in the slots, I was so excited - I never win! Needless to say, dinner was on me!
We played Keno while we ate, I won again - I guess it was my night!!! We stayed a bit longer before heading back to the hotel to get some sleep before tomorrow's tour to the rainforest.
Friday, March 16, 2001 - Rainforestation Karunda, Cairns
It was an early start, we headed off by bus to our drop off at the train station. We boarded our narrow gauge train that took us to Karunda. It was a nice ride in this older locomotive! I snapped this picture when we were heading around a bend.
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The scenery along the way was beautiful, especially when we passed the waterfalls at the Barron River and Gorge! |
Next we headed off to take a ride in an Amphibian Duck through the rainforest. We got to see many different types of trees, plants, birds and the beautiful blue Ulysses Butterfly. Our "Duck" left land and headed into the water, where we got to see some Eastern Saw-back Snapping Turtles in the muddy water.
After the tour, we headed to lunch, then on to see the Aboriginal dancers perform, then they showed us how to throw a boomerang (mine would have made it around if I had a bit more strength behind it!) We had a good laugh watching everyone's throws - Cheryl cut the grass with hers - LOL!
Next up they did some spear throwing and then showed us how to play a didgerido - the sounds they can make with them are amazing!
The next part off the tour took us to the Koala & Wildlife park, where we got see fresh and saltwater crocs - their biggest is Jack, a 16 foot, 1 ton Saltwater croc, pretty scary - he chomped on a hunk of meat that the guide taunted him with!
Cheryl held a baby snake - I think the man said it was a python - yuck. Next up were the kangaroos and koalas - very cute. One koala ran across the ground, then leapt into a tree, it was so funny to see it running.
Cheryl and I actually posed for pictures with a koala. You place your hands and then they place the koala in your hands - they are the only people to handle the koalas, since a koala has to be picked up by their arms. I heard from someone that if you lift them up like you would a child you could damage their ribcage!
Cheryl told me they really smelled like Eucalyptus, but since I was so stuffed up, I couldn't smell a thing!
Carol and Nick
Cheryl and Kahlua
We headed back down towards Cairns via the Skyrail - which was an enclosed gondola suspended above the trees of the rainforest. It was a little scary, especially when we reached the highest point of 1788 feet.
At the bottom, we looked around in the shops, then we headed to the bus back to our hotel.
Our last dinner at the hotel was horrible. Our drinks took forever, the coffee after dinner took forever, so when we got the comment card along with the bill, Cheryl filled it out.
We were now just hours away from heading back home - boohoo!
Saturday, March 17, 2001 - The long way home!
Up and on our way before the crack of dawn, we headed to check out, where the night manager wanted to speak to us about the comment card we filled out.
Of course we never complain, but the one time we do, we find out that drink server had a heart attack on the job, some of the staff worked on her before the ambulance came. We felt like crap for complaining, but we also felt that they should have told the patrons that something happened and they were short staffed or something, at least we would have been more aware.
I recalled hearing ambulance sirens before we headed down to dinner - gosh I wished we could have taken back the complaint - oh well!
It was a LONG way back home - since we traveled in daylight, we weren't able to sleep. Our colds didn't help the trip!
12 planes, several trains, buses, and taxis later, we were now home!
